Anupam Kher called Mahesh Bhatt ‘fraud, cheat’ after he almost replaced him with Sanjeev Kumar in Saaransh: ‘I curse you’

Heartbroken, the actor packed his bags and decided to leave Mumbai. However, before leaving, he resolved to confront Mahesh Bhatt about the replacement. “I called Mahesh Bhatt and he tole me that the producer decided to take an established actor and he said, ‘Don’t worry play another old guy’s role. It is equally good.’ I got horrified and I packed my luggage to go. I thought that this city and he does not deserve me because after preparing for six months if he can throw me out of the film than what will my future be like?”

Anupam Kher attended Expresso.

Anupam then went to Mahesh Bhatt’s house to speak to him face-to-face. He remembered, “I told Mahesh Bhatt, ‘Can you see that cab, it has my luggage. I’m leaving the city but before I leave it, I want to tell you, you are the biggest fraud on this earth. You are the biggest cheat on this earth. You are making a film about truth, and you don’t have the truth in you. For six months, you made me rehearse and now you have thrown me out of the film. You pretend to be this artistic director…’ Then I said, ‘I am a Brahmin and I curse you.’ Then Mahesh Bhatt called the producer and said is ‘Joh scene isne kia hai abhi (The scene he has created now), only he will do this film and rest, as they say, is history.'”

Saaransh, which tells the story of an elderly Maharashtrian couple living in Mumbai who struggles to come to terms with the loss of their only son, went on to receive widespread critical acclaim. The film was also chosen as India’s official entry for the 1985 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, though it was not nominated.